“We’ve faced a lot of adversity this year,” Lamphere senior linebacker Brad Denmark said Friday referring to a rash of key injuries that have hurt the Rams’ small roster team. “The team did not come out tonight like we did last week against South Lake.”

Many of Lamphere’s woes on defense had to do with Madison’s offensive line opening holes.

Harris, a 5-foot-7 junior, was brilliant all night for the Eagles from the start. He finished with 14 carries for 99 yards, including TD runs of 4, 34 and 3 yards. His 3-yard scoring run at 9:11 of the third quarter sealed Lamphere’s fate. And his 2-point conversion run gave the high-flying Eagles a clock-running 35-0 bulge.

“Heart and determination,” said Wilkins. “We want to go as far as we can go. We want to win any way possible.”

It was 27-0 when Harris scored on a tough 34-yard run with 3:28 left before the half. The play looked like an innocent power run but turned into a nice scoring run behind a bevy of downfield Madison blockers.

Madison’s Nick Wallace, a lanky 6-foot-5 senior quarterback, found fellow senior Lewis Brown for the 2-point conversion. Wallace was steady all night whether he was handing off the ball, passing or just commanding the offense.

“Our running backs are playing really good,” Wallace said Friday, who hinted that Wayne State University is in the running for his services next year. “We have four really good running backs.”

Trailing 19-0 it looked like Lamphere was going to get a break with field position after a holding penalty and a delay of game call backed Madison up to the 10 midway through the second. A dropped pass and a run for no gain resulted in Madison’s first punt of the night – a 62 yarder by Wallace.

Following the thunder punt, the Rams’ Matt Crews, a 6-foot sophomore quarterback, appeared to get things going with a 15-yard keeper to get Lamphere into Madison territory for only the second time.

But on the promising Lamphere drive, Madison’s Emil Wards stepped in front of Crews’ pass for a key interception – the first turnover of the night.

Lamphere just could not get anything generated offensively. The always reliable Denmark, a 6-foot-2 senior end, hauled in a nice 13-yard pass from Crews that had the Rams driving.

But the Eagles relentless defense again stalled the drive and the Rams were forced to punt.

“We’re fighters; we’re scrappers on defense,” Wilkins said. “On Tuesday during practice, I stopped the practice because we were just going through the motions. Well, we ran for 45 minutes. The kids know that’s what it’s all about.”

Offensively Madison was on a first half scoring spree. On the Eagles third drive of the evening, Wallace had a big play 23-yard pass to 6-foot-1 receiver Daviyon Jones to the Rams 5 to end the first quarter.

“That’s my family,” Jones said pointing to his teammates after Friday’s game. “They’re all family.”

On the first play of the second stanza, Emmanuel Perry, a 5-foot-6 junior back, went off the right tackle and walked into the end zone that gave Madison a 19-0 lead.

The Eagles utilized a successful reverse on their second possession of the night, and a heavy dose Harris. But it was Wallace again engineering a scoring drive.

The Rams’ Khalil Wallace made a great tackle of Harris for a loss and Madison faced a fourth and 2 at the 8-yard line with 1:36 left in the first quarter. But after a timeout, Wallace found 6-foot-3 junior tight end Kyle Baldwin on a slant dump pass for an 8-yard scoring strike to give Madison a 13-0 lead.

The Eagles got on the scoreboard on its opening drive that started when Wallace fumbled on first play of the game; although he recovered it himself.

On the next play, Wallace connected with Jones, a sophomore, on a 42-yard strike to the 20. On the drive, Wallace used a quarterback sneak to get the first down on a fourth and inches.

Harris finished it off with a 4-yard TD run at 8:19 off the right side sprinting untouched to the corner of the end zone for a 7-0 lead.

It would prove to be all the points Madison needed on this night.

Lamphere, which was sporting pink socks and pink ribbons on its helmets to support a cure for breast cancer, used the running of senior Mike Tratar early in the game. Tartar generated runs of 15 and 9 yards to get the Rams into Madison territory.

But Lamphere’s opening drive was stalled by a hungry Madison defense and the Rams were forced to punt – a theme the Rams followed all night.

Lamphere finishes the season at Center Line next Friday.

Madison can wrap up a share of the MAC Silver Division with South Lake with a victory over New Haven on Friday.

“Every game is a championship game,” Wilkins said.

MAC BRONZE DIVISION

CLAWSON 34, MOUNT CLEMENS 21: Coach Jim Sparks’ Trojans edged closer to a securing a spot in the playoffs with this victory. The Trojans are now 4-1 in the division and 5-3 overall.

They close the regular season with a game at East Detroit on Saturday, Oct. 20.

Clawson’s Steven Kline had 18 carries for 131 yards and a touchdown run of six yards. He also returned a punt 65 yards to the end zone. Marquian Johnson had five catches for 55 yards and three touchdowns measuring 29, nine and five yards. Quarterback Ty Sparks connected on 13 of 23 passes for 172 yards including those three scoring strikes to Johnson.

Defensively for the Trojans, linebacker Jared Martin made 14 tackles. Jake Sami had an interception.